Katsi continued to sail through the air, looking for her query. The sooner she found him, the sooner she could get Dean free from the coin. Even as the nanite's examined the situation, the were struggling for a more meaningful resolution. As she flew, she could hear Gavin on a comm channel in her armor, but she wasn't listening. He was probably telling her to slow down or take a breath. Telling her how she was being unreasonable. She didn't have time for that. She had taken out the Original Tak'nasi, a genius and massive threat there was-

Her thought was shattered when she felt a cutting pain through her body. Knocked from the air, she began to fall, her connection to Dean telling her that that was something he knew as a Tidal Upheaval. One of an assortment of attacks from a school known as the Seven Strikes of the Falos. Her impact with the ground lead to a sickening thud, her armor enough to protect her both from the worst of the strike and the impact. Looking at the figure slowly approaching her, she readied a canon, but she sensed no killing intent. No malice. Still her suit was shooting her countless warnings without providing any real solutions. She shouted, "Who are you?"

The fishman approached slowly, sighing with the weight of a century in his bones, "To think the Emperor found a way to make me scared of children. Perhaps we never needed fear Tak'Nasi if such a child was enough." From what she could see, it didn't appear he had eyes and yet she felt like he was peering deeply into her. He bowed politely, "I am Erjoe, Grandmaster of the Seven Strikes. The one that struck you cleaves through the sea of fear in a man's heart. It appears my fear was-" She fired at him, frozen in panic when the air around him seemed to become a blur of air, her blast dissipating in the flurry of his blows. His tone grew harsh, "It is rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking, young one. I wish for this to be a fair and honorable match. Everyone deserves such before they die."

As she looked up at the figure, she could feel the cold and familiar sensation in the air. The same sense of dread and impending death she hadn't felt since she left on the Ziegfried. As it set in, even the feed from Dean's connection to the suit seemed to go quiet. No information on her visor. No guidance or insight. She was alone in unfamiliar waters, and while she was better armed than she had ever been, she still felt like a defenseless little girl.

———

She looked at her younger self, a growing irritation on her face, “No… no, not again. I just…!” She restrained her growing frustration and sneered, “I’m not going to do this again.”

Ani spoke with bored disinterest, “You haven’t done any thing but run.” Anisa tried to block it out and keep moving, her body sore and creaking with every step. Ani sighed, “And you aren’t going to find him going that way.”

Anisa continued to walk into the dark void only to find herself disoriented. Eventually she found her way back to the teen. “So what is this? Did he hit me so hard I’m in a coma again?”

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Ani shook her head, putting her hands in her coat, “No. This is like those caves. The arena is so saturated in the traditions and rituals of the people who built it that your own heart becomes your gatekeeper. You can’t leave or enter until you know which one is the place you truly must be.” She looked at her older self with disappointment, “I can’t believe I got so… bitchy. Hemingway had me pegged alright.”

Anisa jolted at her nickname for Shawn, picking her younger form up by her collar, “Why ask me what I’m fighting for when you already know?”

Ani gave her a disinterested stare in response.

———

Tai circled around the area, looking for survivors, but only finding empty buildings. Not even corpses. This felt wrong. This was a Despoda settlement. There should at least be corpses if they were killed. This felt very very wrong. It was only as he heard a series of explosions over by the arena, that he turned, seeing the lingering smoke even from here. The Phoenix Emperor was clearly much stronger than he had been letting on. If Tai had to measure it, he would say Captain level... no... more than that. The explosions felt... precise... What part of his combined creation was screaming at him to fear that man? What part of him knew better than to humor that fear? He looked to Narine, the one he calls Mother, and said, "No signs of struggle... or life."

Narine seemed to find it as odd as he did, clearly on edge, "That's... But maybe the shapeshifters found another way to survive the attacks. Maybe they are hiding as a plant or smaller creature..."

He couldn't shake his paranoia, this instinct that was entirely unfamiliar and yet... oddly natural. He said, "We need to be on our guard. Remember that even survivors can't be trusted." He sighed, not wanting to concern his mother, "I am sorry if I sound harsh, mother. I just-"

She cut him off, holding up her hand, "Dear... you don't need to worry. I will consider your warning, okay?" She closed her eyes for a moment before she allowed her more calculating nature to push forward, "I'll use some sedatives I made awhile back for the captain. The biology is different, but it should be potent enough to have the desired effect before they can make a snack of me." She started to walk away and he held out his hand to call her back, but she just looked back over her shoulder and said, "Oh, don't be like that. I'll be back before you know it."

_____

Gavin sighed as he moved silently, muttering to himself, "It can't be an accident. History repeating itself time and again. Dean beyond reach, Cap on a tear, and all of us spilt like scared sheep." He looked at the device on his wrist, thinking back to the day on the Ziegfried. A copy of his friend chasing him with a hammer, hunting him while he was fleeing for his life. He continued to whisper to himself as he walked in the shadows of the town, "But Cap told me to take charge while she was gone. So, even if things are starting the same, I'll make sure as hell it doesn't end the same way."

He took a look at the all too familiar tech that he had lifted from Katsi's pocket. It was miniaturized but unmistakable. The fact that Dean helped her to make these at all was a chilling thought. He took a few deep breaths and finally let himself say what he had been avoiding saying for awhile now. "I know you are following me. So, why don't you tell me who you are and I might not have to hurt you."